Method of extracting



May 4, 1943.

R. B. M KINNIS METHOD OF EXTRACTING Filed Dec. 15, 1939 2 Sheets$heet lRAPID EXTRACTION OF JUICE FROM CITRUS FRUIT IN OPEN ATMOSPHERE PASSINGJUICE IMMEDIATELY TOA CLOSED CENTRIFUGE SEPARATION OF JUICE AND SEED INTHE CENTRIFUGE DISCHARGING JUICE FROM CENTRIFUGE BASKET IN FORM OF SPRAYDISCHARGING SEED FROM CENTRIFUGE PASSING JUICE SPRAY THROUGH A STREAM OFINERT GAS MOVING CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH THE CENTRI- FUGE TO PURGE JUICE OFCONTAINED OXYGEN THROUGH A 'LIQUID SEAL FILLING PREHEATED CONTAINERSWITH OXYGEN FREE JUICE UNDER A BLANKET OF STEAM WITHIN THE CONTAINERSBEING SENT TO CONTAINERS FLASH PASTEURIZING JUICE BEFORE QUICKLY SEALINGTHE CONTAINERS PASTEURIZING JUICE IN CONTAINERS AFTER SEALING PatentedMay 4, 1943 METHOD OF EXTRACTIN G Ronald B. McKinnis, Winter Haven, Flaassignor, by mesne assignments, to Ronald B. McKinnis, doing business asMcKinnis Foods,

Winter Haven, Fla.

Application December 15, 1939, Serial No. 309,493

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method for preventing oxidation ofliquids, and more particularly for preventing oxidation of juices offruits and vegetables by atmospheric oxygen.

This application is directed more particularly to the process describedin this application.

In extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables, oxygen of the airstarts processes of oxidation in the juice which eventually will spoilthe taste of the juice and cause deterioration in the vitamin content.To obviate this deterioration through oxidation, I have devisedprocesses employing extraction in an inert atmosphere, and sealing incontainers under nonoxidizingconditions.

The present invention relates to a process and an apparatus which willpermit extraction in the open atmosphere, yet will prevent the start ofthe deleterious oxidation above indicated.

In the present process the juice is extracted and then quickly passes,before oxidation has set in, or before any large quantity of atmosphericoxygen has become incorporated in the juice, to a purging step whereinthe juice is subjected to the action of inert gases whereby theatmospheric oxygen is purged from the juice.

In general the apparatus consists of a rotary conical member which isforaminous, and which discharges the juice in a stream in a current ofinert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or a mixture of the two, orother inert gases. The inert gases contact the juice in spray form, orin droplet form, and purge the atmospheric oxygen from the containedjuice. The juice is gathered in a collection chamber within thecentrifugal apparatus in an atmosphere of inert gas, and from thence canbe sent to containers or cans, where the juice is stored undernon-oxidizing conditions.

It is an object of my invention to devise a process and apparatus whichwill permit juices of fruits and vegetablesto beextracted and passed tostorage or canning without deterioration from the action of atmosphericoxygen.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process and apparatuswhich will permit extraction under ordinary atmospheric conditions,

and yet which will inhibit the progressive oxidation to which juices areordinarily subject when extracted under these conditions.

Other objects will be apparent from the ensuing description which showsa simple form of apparatus and process which is cheap to construct andinexpensive to operate.

formed in the bas I.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a flow sheet showing. one form of my process. 7

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the purgingapparatus.

Figure 3 is a view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a base casting l which is formedinto a juice catching chamber 2 at its lower part and is formed with aseed catching chamber 3 at its upper end. The seed catching chamber isprovided with a lid 4 which has a rim 5 that liesv adjacent a flange 6formed on the seed catching chamber of the main casting. Between the rim5 and flange 6 is a fluid-tight packing l. The lid 4 may be attached bya series of bolts 8.

Inert gas isadmitted into my centrifuge at the lower part thereofthrough an inert gas inlet line 9, which, through a suitable packingjoint I0, is attached to a screw-threaded nipple II The nipple II isprovided with an interior central aperture I2 which communicates. with agas chamber l3. The gas chamber I3 is provided with apertures M whichconduct the gas, as indicated by the-arrows in Figure 2, into the juicecatching chamber 2.

Mounted in the juice catching chamber 2 is a rotating centrifugalconical element, indicated generally by the numeral l5, which comprisesa tapered sleeve I6 mounted on a base H. The base I1 is provided at itslower end with a ball race l8, which lies adjacent to a ball race I 9formed in an annular projection 20 of the base I. Between the ball races[8 and I9 are a series of ball bearings 2|. Thus the conical member I 6is mounted for rotation on the base I.

Through a central aperture 22 formed in the base I! is adapted to extendan inlet nozzle 23 which has a flanged top 24. The inlet nozzle 23 fitswithin an aperture 25 formed in the base I. The base I is provided witha juice inlet aperture 26 which through a fluid-tight connection 21 isconnected to a juice inlet pipe 28. Mounted above the flange 24 of thenozzle 23 is a spreader plate 29 which is held spaced from the flangedtop 24 by means of suitable spacers 30.

The arrangement of the nozzle is such that juice passing through thejuice inlet pipe 28 and juice aperture 26 is discharged by the nozzleagainst the plate 29 and spread out in disc form where it impinges onthe interior of therotating conical element IS.

The rotating conical element I5 is provided with apertures 3| so thatthe juice discharged against its inner surface, in its passage up fromthe small end of the conical element l5 to. the larger end, will bethrown out in spray form through the apertures into the juice catchingchamber 2 surrounding the conical element l5. The direction of the flowof juice is indicated in dotted arrows in Figure 2. The direction offiow of the inert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, a mixture ofthe two, or other inert gas, is indicated by the solid arrows.

Formed on the larger open end of the conical rotating element I5 is aflange 32 which is attached to and held in spaced relation from adriving disc 33 by means of spacers 34 and' bolts 35.

The drive disc 33 is attached to a hollow spindle 36 which is journaledin a ball bearing construction indicated generally by the numeral 31 inthe lid or cover 4. A packing gland construction, indicated generally bythe numeral 33, provides a fluid-tight fit between the hollow spindle 36and the cover plate 4, while permitting free rotation of the hollowspindle 36.

To drive the hollow spindle 36 I have provided a pulley 33 which isadapted to be driven by a belt (not shown) from a suitable source ofpower (not shown). Connected through a fiuidtight joint, indicatedgenerally by the numeral 46, with the interior of the hollow spindle 36is an inert gas outlet pipe 4| which" is supported on a bracket 42carried by the lid 4. The inert gas outlet pipe 4| is held between arms43 on the bracket 42, the arms being held together by means of bolts 44.

Water is supplied to the seed collecting chamber 3 ofthe body casting bymeans of a nipple 45 which, through a fluid-tight joint indicatedgenerally by the numeral 46, communicates with a water inlet pipe 41.

Between the seed collecting chamber 3 and the juice collecting chamber 2is an upwardly sloping baiile wall 48 which prevents splashing of thejuice from the juice collecting chamber 2 into the seed collectingchamber. The seed collecting chamber is provided with a water seal 49through which the seeds and water from the chamber are discharged intothe atmosphere. This water seal comprises a downwardly projectingsection 50 of the wall of the seed collecting chamber 3, whose lower endlies below the surface 5| of water in a bowl 52. The seeds and water aredischarged through a. chute 53 formed in the seed collecting chamber 3,into the bowl 52, and the seeds and water then pass over a seed andwater discharge chute 54. The arrangement is such that seeds dischargedfrom the top of the rotating member l5 will fall into the seedcollecting chamber 3 and be swept outof that chamher by a stream ofwater entering the chamber through a nozzle 45. This water and the seedsand larger particles will pass down through the chute 53 into the bowl52 and the seeds, water and large particles will be discharged out ofthe apparatus over the discharge chute 54.

Juice is adapted to be discharged from the bottom of the juicecollecting chamber 2 through a nipple 55 connected through a fluid-tightjoint, indicated generally by the numeral 56, to a juice discharge line51.

In operation the juice soon after the extracting operation in the openatmosphere is passed through juice inlet pipe 28 and passes through thejuice nozzle 23. The plate 29 deflects the juice to the base of theinner surface of the rotating conical member l5 and the juice rests onthe interior wall of the conical member l5 by reason of centrifugalforce and because of the conical shape of the member l5. The juiceissprayed out in the form of spray -or droplets through the apertures 3|formed in the sleeve l6. Inert gas enters the gas manifold |3 throughinert gas pipe 9 and is discharged through apertures l4, as indicated bythe arrows, into the juice catching chamber 2, and flows through thesprays or droplets of juice, as indicated, and

passes out over the bafile 48 and into the rotatin spindle 36, and fromthence into the inert gas discharge line 4|.

The atmospheric oxygen in the juice is purged out of the juice duringthis operation and the juice which is collected in the bottom of thejuice chamber 2 is discharged through the juice discharge line 51.

The larger particles of the pulp and the seeds are discharged over theflange 32 formed on the top of the rotating conical element l5 into theseed collecting chamber 3 where, as before described, the water admittedthrough the pipe 41 causes the seeds and larger particles to be sweptdown through the water seal 49 and out of the apparatus.

In a typical operation the oranges, grapefruit, or other fruits orvegetables are subjected to a rapid extraction in order to minimizeoxidation. After this rapid extraction the juice is passed immediatelyto the closed centrifuge, just above described, where the juice andseeds are separated. The juice is subjected to the purging action of thecentrifuge apparatus in which inert gas flows through the spray ordroplets discharged through the apertures 3| in the rotating conicalelement IS. The seeds and large particles of pulp are passed by reasonof the centriflgal action out of the top of the rotating element |5 intothe seed discharge chamber and are discharged out of the apparatusthrough a water seal. This water seal prevents the access of oxygen fromthe atmosphere into the interior of the centrifuge apparatus.

It is to be noted that the inert gas moves in a stream continuouslythrough the centrifuge to purge the juice containing the oxygen. Thejuice from the juice collecting chamber 2 of the centrifuge may bepassed to a flash pasteurization step and thence to containers, such aslarge storage containers, or to cans. The flash pasteurization step maybe omitted, and the pasteurization may occur after the juice has beenadmitted to the containers or cans.

In a typical operation the juice may be filled into cans which have beenpro-heated to a temperature above the condensation point of steam so asto prevent condensation, the cans then filled with live steam by meansof a steam jet, and the juice then filled in the cans under a blanket ofthe steam, the juice entering from the bottom of the cans, the speed offilling being regulated so that a turbulence of the juice in the canswill not cause the blanket of protecting steam to be broken to permitobjectionable contamination of the juice by the oxygen of theatmosphere. The cans having been filled, they may be quickly sealed toprevent any oxidation of the contents.

large containers are filled with juice for bulk storage purposes, thejuice may be pasteurized in these large containers ii desired.

It will be noted that my process and apparatus permit the juice to beextracted in the atmosphere but by reason of quickly passing it to apurging operation, the usual deleterious effects of atmosphericextraction are eliminated. Before objectionable oxidation can takeplace, the juice is purged by the action of the inert gas on the spraysor droplets of juice and contamination by atmospheric oxygen isprevented, as described. Under such conditions of extraction and canningor storage, the juice will last for a much longer time withoutdeterioration in taste or vitamin content than is the case with ordinarycanning operations.

I desire that my invention be limited only by the showing of the priorart and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A continuous process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juices comprising the steps of separating the juice and seeds.discharging the juice in spray form, passing an inert gas through thejuice whereby the oxygen is purged from the juice and discharging theseeds through a liquid seal. 7 2. A continuous process for preventingthe oxidation of vegetable and fruit juices comprising the steps ofseparating the juice and seeds, discharging the juice in spray form,passing an inert gas through the juice whereby the oxygen is purged fromthe juice, collecting the juice in an atmosphere of inert gas, anddischarging the seeds through a liquid seal.

3. A continuous process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juices comprising extracting the juice, passing the juiceimmediately to a step wherein the juice and seeds are separated,discharging the juice in spray form, passing an inert gas through thejuice whereby the oxygen is purged from the juice, collecting the juicein an atmosphere of inert gas, and discharging the seeds through aliquid seal.

1. A continuous process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juices comprising subjecting the juice to centrifugal actionwhereby the juice and seeds are separated and the juice is discharged inthe form of spray, passing an inert gas through the juice spray to purgethe oxygen therefrom, collecting the juice in an atmosphere of inertgas, and discharging the seeds through a liquid seal.

5. A continuous process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juice comprising extracting the juice, immediately subjecting thejuice to centrifugal action whereby the juice and seeds are separatedand the juice is discharged in spray form, passing an inert gas throughthe juice spray to purge the oxygen therefrom, collecting the juice inan atmosphere of inert gas, and discharging the seeds through a liquidseal.

6. A continuous process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juices comprising extracting the Juice, immediately subjecting thejuice to centrifugal action whereby, the juice and seeds are separatedand the juice is discharged in spray form, passing an inert gas throughthe juice spray to purge the Oxygen therefrom, collecting the juice inan atmosphere of inert gas, discharging the seeds through a liquid seal,and subjecting the juice to flash pasteurization.

'7. A continuo s process for preventing the oxidation of vegetable andfruit juices comprising the steps of extracting the juice, separatingthe juice and seeds, discharging the juice in spray form, passing aninert gas through the juice whereby the oxygen is purged therefrom, anddischarging the seeds through a liquid'seal.

RONALD B. McKlNNlS.

